Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1887-03-04
A CITY AMBULANCE.
The Dark Wagons Frequently
Seen in New York Streets.
Some of tho Odd Experiences of the
Doctors in Charge,

0-NAoao ~
Yes, on that black, spectrelikc vehicle
that dashes by with a speed only second
to that of fire engine. there are incl
dents occurring that are amusing as well
as pathetic, and, from moralist's stand
point, arc also instructive.
Probably the major part Of the human
family, outside of the medical proies-
sion, have. associated naught but grim
ideas with that black wagon and gallop.
ing horse, aud only connect them with
dcath-bed scenes, with the shadow Of
the cemetery lurking in the background.
But it doesn't always mean that some
body is bidding farewell to this earthly
life every time you hear the clang of the
bells and the rush of the wheels and
catch a glimpse of the sombre cover
over your shoulder us it rushes past.
Oh, mo- 1t mty mean an accident, or
case Of pneumonia or rheumatism, or
it may mean. only "drunk."
But that latter is generally the most
serious in the surgeons eyes, for he
knows it means strict surveillance on his
part for the next twenty minutes.
cone night" said downtown ply
sc1an, "when l was on the Bellevue
Hospital ambulance, there was call
from the Fifty-ninth street station house.
When we got up there | found it was
only case Of tremens. The man was
tall and saIlow, like a Mexican. / had
a great deal of trouble to keep him in
the ambulance. lie assured me there
were little white elephants hanging by
their tails all around him He described
their antics to me, and thea be IAN to
count them. 1t was very cold, windy
night, and the wind blew through the
wagon in gusts. The man fought hard
to get out of the ambulance, and final
ly had TO fasten him down to the bot
tom to keep him quiet"
81 remember one night in December,
it was bitterly cold, end three calls came
in at once from the Toomb5. One was a
case of tremens, one was an old man
who had rheumatism and the other was
woman who was suff ,ring with pleuri-
sy. 1t was storming hard outside. an |
the three were huddled in the wagon
shivering with cold. There was only
one blanket, and that wrapped around
.he woman, who was most in need. But
the old man groancd nc sssantly, for The
jolts Of the wagon made the rheumatism
creak in his joints. His complaining
aroused the woman's sympathy to the
highest pitch, and she magnanimously
offered him the blanket. | objected to
that, however, and then she gave him
one corner of it. Between the three in
one ambuu1cc | had my hands full
and wasn't sorry when we rolled under
the archway into the hospital yard.
81 had a sad case in Pitt street one
day in October. l remember the sun
was shining very brightly in the street
when | went, at noon, into a rear tene-
ment. We groped through the dark
halls to room where there was a great
deal of excitement, and going in found
little girl, four years old, who had been
terribly burned. The mother, Hebrew
woman, had gone out and locked her
two little children in the room, when
the eldest Of them caught her dress in
the fire and in moment was enveloped
in flames. The ncghbors rushed in and
the fire was finally put out, but the little
one had inhaled the fame and could not
possibly liy. She did not suffer much,
apparently, and her parents could not
be brought to believe that she was in so
dangerous a condition, and when, few
hours after, she died in their arms they
could not be cousoled. They lived in
room about eight by fourteen feet square,
and there were fully twenty people
crowded in there. The child lay on a
lounge and they crowded around till ]
could scarcely get through to see her.
There was another case of a child
+ that l once had 1t was in the middle
of the afternoon that the call came. We
hurried up to forty-eighth street, near
second avenue. The case was in the top
Of six story tenement. 1t seems they
were building another tenement just next
door Of equal height, and there was an
air shaft between the two buildings.
There were a lot of children playing on
\ the roof, and they amused themselves by
jumping across the air shaft. or course
one of them Tell and went the whole six
stories to the bottom of the basement.
She struck on pile OF lumber and fell
on her shoulder in some way, so that her
back was broken below the neck. They
! carried her up again to the room, but
her mother was out, and it was nearly
three hours before the ambulance was
summoned and the child was taken
away. She was paralyzed and lay in the
hospital sixteen months. Then she was
pronounced incurable, put in rolling
chair and removed t. the hospital for
crippled children"
do the hospitals keep the ambu
lances and horses always in readiness,
something after the manner Of fire com
panies9n
''some hospitals have the drop har-
ness, Others keep a horse always har-
messed, and others still keep to the
slower way of Harvesting up when the
call comes in. believe the New York
Hospital keeps horse standing har-
messed night and day.
"At Bellevue the call comes in by
telephone. The little crippled man who
stands in the Office takes down the cal,